Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) has completed its exit from Arm Holdings by selling its remaining 1.11 million shares for approximately $231 million. The transaction, executed through TSMC subsidiary TSMC Partners between April 28 and April 29 at $207.65 per share, was disclosed in a filing to the Taiwan Stock Exchange.
The sale resulted in a $174 million impact on retained earnings, according to the filing. TSMC confirmed it no longer holds any Arm shares following the disposal, closing a position that had linked two of the most strategically important companies in the global semiconductor supply chain.
TSMC originally invested roughly $100 million in Arm during the chip designer's September 2023 initial public offering at $51 per share. The company had already begun reducing its position in 2024, selling 850,000 Arm shares at $119.47 each for about $102 million. Combined with the latest sale, TSMC has collected approximately $333 million from its Arm investment, more than recouping its initial outlay.
The exit comes amid volatility in Arm shares, which fell roughly 8% on Monday, its largest one-day decline since October, according to Dow Jones Market Data. Arm stock dropped an additional 7.98% on Tuesday following the news of TSMC's full exit. TSMC's U.S.-listed shares fell 3.12% to $392.34, while its Taiwan-listed stock gained 3.66% on the domestic exchange.
The filing described the transaction as a disposal of an equity investment without further explanation for the timing. The move does not indicate a deterioration in the business relationship between TSMC and Arm, as both remain central to the semiconductor ecosystem. TSMC is the world's largest contract chipmaker, while Arm's processor designs underpin devices from smartphones to data-center hardware.
TSMC had previously explored buying Arm outright when SoftBank sought a buyer earlier this decade but ultimately dropped out after a potential deal with Nvidia collapsed in 2022.
